


Year of The Dead

by SometimesIWriteBunnySmutOkay



Category: South Park
Genre: Angst, Besides it's almost halloween, Blood and Gore, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, I made the mistake of watching an episode of the walking dead, It was three AM and I couldn't sleep, M/M, Probably Some Zombies, Rival Colonies, Zombie Apocalypse, apocalypse au, people might die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 11:21:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16345748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SometimesIWriteBunnySmutOkay/pseuds/SometimesIWriteBunnySmutOkay
Summary: Otherwise known as: How I learned to stop panicking and love the Zombies.It's been three years since this bullshit started, and Stan isn't about to start enjoying it just because he's gotten used to it. The Zombie Apocalypse as some call it, is in full swing, and that means when people go missing, you don't exactly expect them to come back. But then Kyle vanishes.Whether there be monster or man in his way, Stan isn't about to let him go.





	Year of The Dead

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beanstalks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beanstalks/gifts).



> Well my little children, it's time for story time. Since it's almost halloween and this idea hit me like a train, it looks like we're writing a zombie AU.
> 
> If you're wondering, yes, their weapons are taken from the fanart set I've seen called Craig of the Dead. I was too lazy to think of an original set of weapons. 
> 
> That aside, I don't know what I'm doing.
> 
> ENJOY!

"I'm not worried."

"Staniel, you aren't fooling  _ anyone _ ."

Kenny had a good point. But Stan wasn't about to admit as much, not after the past three hours had been spent very distinctly saying that he wasn't biting his nails or  _ freakin’ out _ . Besides, it wasn't a big deal, right? People didn't always have to be exactly on time. There hadn't even been a set time, there had just been an angry huff and the slam of a gate. Stan knew he was being stupid, it was just...  _ He's usually not gone this long. _

Glancing out from the guard tower at the darkening landscape beyond the gate, Stan felt his stomach twist, so he pulled himself back from the edge and determinedly put his back to the crumbling brickwork. Kenny, conversely, kept to his post faithfully, his eyes silently flickering around the premises with that single minded focus that only the Sandy-blond seemed to possess. Watching him, Stan fought the rolling in his stomach and instead clutched the double barreled shotgun to his chest as though it alone was enough to protect him from the night.

"You're allowed to be worried," Kenny informed Stan in a low voice, tugging absently on the string of his faded, blood-spattered orange hoodie. "You do know that, right?" His weapon wasn't drawn, instead he kept it slung over his back. Despite this almost casual appearance, Stan knew only too well how fast Kenny could have that rifle in his hands and pointed at its target. Hell, sometimes it didn't even look like the freckled-boy had moved at all.

"Yeah, but..." Stan let out a frustrated breath. "He said it was a supply run, that's it. We were almost out of antibiotics, it's not like we can survive very well without them." But that had just been an excuse for him to leave as quickly as possible.  _ He should be back by now though, _ Stan decidedly didn't add. Below them, the sounds of the Undead rose up, filling the gap the Raven had left behind with his words. A moment later, however, the sound of Kenny humming broke that stillness.

Instead of asking something stupid, like,  _ Do you think he'll be alright? _ , Kenny just nodded once and said, "Well, you know Kyle." That was it, that was all he said. As though that was any sort of answer. Somehow, it was the only comforting thing the man could have said. Because... yeah. Stan did know Kyle, or at least, he knew as much about the redhead as he'd been allowed to know, and if that was anything to go by, the man wasn't going to just  _ die. _

_ But... _ As Stan glanced over the edge of the watchtower's wall, down at the shuffling zombies beneath them, he thought,  _ you never know. _ It was a depressing thing to ruminate over, but he couldn't quite shake it.

There was the sound of footsteps coming up the spiral stairwell and a moment later, the faintly smiling face of Leopold popped up from the mouth of the stairs. "Heya fellas." The man wasn't quite as cheerful as when they'd first stumbled upon him, if there had truly been any naivety there, it was gone, but the bleach blond was still happy, and Stan didn't begrudge him it. Pushing himself to his feet, Stan stretched and observed the way Kenny's lips twitched up in a smirk before settling back down. 

Turning to face Leo, Kenny cracked his neck and said, "Well well, looks like the reinforcements have arrived. What's shakin' Butterball?"

"Just come to let Stan get some rest," Leo said, smiling up at Kenny. The man's pistol was holstered, but his eyes were sharp, much sharper than Stan felt to be sure. Sighing, the Raven attempted to casually amble towards the stairs, willing to go and not question it. He was too mentally exhausted to be questioning much of anything. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get away that easily.

"Y'know, Kyle still hasn' shown back up," Leo commented, as though Stan needed to be reminded. He couldn't have snapped at the man if he tried, too tired and worried to be properly lashing out at his friends, but he still jolted and turned back around to face Leo. Rubbing his knuckles together, the bleach blond gave him a mildly concerned look. "Is everythin'-"

"Yeah! Yeah, it's fine," Stan insisted, even though it was clear by the way he stared down at the ground that it wasn't. Fuck, Kyle should have been back by now, but he didn't have the energy to freak out, all he could do was let it eat him away from the inside. Worry about it progressively more and more until it drove him crazy. "Kyle's fine, he's just... fine. Absolutely-"

"Well, I'll talk to Wendy 'bout it, y'know how the system works, but we can probably send out a search party t'find him tomorrow, if y' like," Leo said, which only made Stan's stomach lurch more alarmingly. "We'll get him back, one way or another." Stan's face completely drained of color, leaving him ashen and lightheaded. God, he'd said the words before himself when others had gone missing, but he knew how many people he'd buried, and he knew how many more had simply vanished. And this wasn't just anyone, this was  _ Kyle. _ This was more important to him than... fuck, he didn't want to think about it.

"Ah," Kenny clicked his tongue, startling Stan out of his reverie. "Don't talk like that Butterfree, you'll scare him." It was said a tad mockingly, but there was sympathy in his blue eyes that Stan didn't miss. Of course, they'd all had to worry before, people went out and were stupid and with the zombies around, you couldn't always guarantee they'd come back. Everyone knew what it was like to lose someone, but Stan could remember how Cartman and he had found Kenny, crying over his zombified brother, who had been half pinned under a car. Some of them knew the acute pain of loss and fear better than others. 

Scrunching up his face, Leo shook his head before apologetically saying, "Well gee Stan, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sure Kyle's fine." And as only Leopold could do, he made it sound convincing enough that the worried Raven could almost believe it. But this wasn't just another member of their colony, this was Kyle. So in the end, the comfort wasn't enough. 

"It's fine, Leo," Stan said, trying for a smile and failing horribly. "I'm gonna..." Gesturing vaguely towards the stairs, Stan slung his shotgun over his shoulder before walking towards the exit.

As his foot hit the first stair, though, Kenny called, "Get some fucking sleep Marsh, don't make me hit you over the head with a brick." That made him laugh, however shallowly. 

"Yeah, whatever McCormick." Saluting the two of them loosely, Stan ambled off down the stairs, ignoring the soft sounds of conversation that welled up in his wake.

The moment their voices faded from the air around him, the sounds of the Undead rose up to fill their absence. As if Stan needed a reminder of what shit lay outside the walls.  _ Where Kyle is. _ Yeah no shit where Kyle was. Gritting his teeth together, the man slunk off down the perimeter, instead of doing as he'd been told and going to bed. He might have been exhausted, but Kyle was still out there somewhere, and he was having trouble not focusing on that fact.

_ Just a quick run _ yeah right. He shouldn't have let Kyle go out on his own, but to be fair, they had just fought, so it wasn't like he had a leg to stand on. Kenny always told them to never fight with people during an apocalypse and for the most part, it was sound advice. Actually, it was always sound advice, but it was rather hard to follow in practice. Kenny managed it, even though Stan knew for a fact he had grievances against people in the camp, but the rest of them bickered.

Kyle always said it was because they were too cooped up, and maybe he was right, but it was better here than out there. At least here, in this old correctional facility, they could all theoretically have rooms to themselves.

As he neared one of the back entrances, the one Kyle had left earlier that day, Stan bit his lip. He shouldn't be worried, he should, in fact, still be angry at what Kyle had said. That was the logical response to shit like that, but, well, maybe if it hadn't been the end of the world, that's exactly how he would have seen it. As it was, the Ginger man was still gone, and Stan wanted to puke. If he hadn't been worried about the sound attracting more zombies to this patch of border fence, he might've. Instead, he swallowed the bile in his throat and hunkered down against the gate.

What had this fight been over, anyway? Stan had said something about Kyle's brother, hadn't he? The kid had run off a couple months ago with Kenny's sister. It hadn't really been that big a dent in their population, but for Kyle it had been devastating. Especially because they'd run off to join a rival colony. So maybe his comments had been in poor taste, but Kyle certainly had reacted much worse than the situation deserved, right?

Thinking of his own sister, who was probably sound asleep right now, Stan hung his head a little lower. If it had been Shelly, he'd have been devastated too. Even though he hadn't been particularly close to her before  _ The Occurrence _ , she was the only family he knew of that had survived. So he chose to care, and she chose to care about him. 

Yet Kyle's brother Ike, who'd been the one member of the redhead's family that hadn't gotten torn to shreds in front of him, had just left him.  _ Jesus, why did I say that shit in the first place? _

_ Maybe he's fine and he just didn't want to deal with me tonight, _ Stan thought, turning his head so he could look down the fence at the rotting masses attempting to get past the tight mesh of the high chain-link. They couldn't, they weren't smart enough to climb and they weren't strong enough to break it. All they could do was grope at it uselessly. Which was kind of what Stan's mind was doing to his skull.

He could only  _ hope _ that was why Kyle wasn't in. It was better than any of the alternatives.

Despite wanting to just curl up where he was and sleep, Stan couldn't quite do it. All he could think of was Kyle, and it was enough to keep him awake, exhausted but physically unable to close his eyes and sleep. If he did, it was like he was just forgetting about the redhead and no matter how  _ dumb _ that reasoning was, he couldn't quite shake it.  _ Just come back dude, I'm sorry for what I said, don't do this to me. _ But Kyle couldn't hear his thoughts, and he probably wouldn't have answered even if he could.

He just wanted the man to be alright. He just wanted to know why he wasn't back yet.

_ Fuck it, I can't deal with this. _ Getting to his feet, Stan patted his pockets for his precious flashlight, the solar powered one that had kept him alive more times than he could count, before checking to see how much amo he had. Enough, he decided, though the moment he shot one Undead, a thousand more would pop out of the woodwork at him. Reaching for his waistband, Stan rested his hand on the vicious hunting knife he'd been given, that was honestly more like a small machete, and weighed his options.

He could go back to the dorms and not do this, not be stupid. This was probably the preferable option. There was a bed waiting for him, bed and some food. In the morning, if Kyle still wasn't back they'd send out a search party to find him, and they'd probably discover him, locked away in some back room, irritated that it had taken so long for them to get to him. Or...

Stan's eyes flickered to the dark outside. Hand tightening on the strap of his shotgun, the Raven made up his mind. He could rest, or he could do what his gut was telling him to do and find Kyle. It was his fault that the man had blundered off, angry and alone, and if he found him, it would be his fault that Kyle blundered his way back, equally angry but hopefully not as alone. Doing one last check of his things, Stan yanked his poofball hat down over his disgustingly messy hair before entering the several codes for the different padlocks and slipping out the gate. 

He'd regret this in the morning.

Or he'd be dead

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was just the prologue, we'll start getting into more interesting stuff next chapter. Probably haha.


End file.
